The Minister responsible for the Law Commission, Hon Kiri Allan, has asked Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission to review the protections in the Human Rights Act 1993 for transgender people, non-binary people and people with diverse sex...
Our projects
Each project is an area of law or subject matter that the Law Commission has agreed to review. The Commission works on several projects at a time. Together, these projects make up the Commission's annual work programme.
Use the search filters below to find particular projects. For more information on how we work see how we conduct projects.
Project status
Areas of law
- (-) Remove Courts and Dispute Resolution filter Courts and Dispute Resolution
- (-) Remove Criminal filter Criminal
- (-) Remove Civil filter Civil
- (-) Remove Human Rights filter Human Rights
- (-) Remove Social filter Social
- Public (48) Apply Public filter
- Other (33) Apply Other filter
- Family (23) Apply Family filter
- Commercial (17) Apply Commercial filter
- Evidence (15) Apply Evidence filter
- Property/Trusts (15) Apply Property/Trusts filter
- Customary and Treaty Settlements Law (10) Apply Customary and Treaty Settlements Law filter
- International Law (8) Apply International Law filter
- Consumer (5) Apply Consumer filter
Project status: Open
Start date 16 January 2023
Last updated 21 December 2022
Project status: Researching issues
Start date 01 July 2022
Last updated 04 July 2022
Aotearoa New Zealand has laws aimed at protecting the public from reoffending risks posed by some offenders convicted of serious crimes. These laws enable the detention or supervision of those offenders beyond a fixed-term prison sentence (...
Project status: Open
Start date 06 October 2021
Last updated 06 March 2023
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission is reviewing how the law should respond when an adult’s decision-making is affected.
...
Project status: Closed
Start date 09 April 2021
Last updated 11 November 2022
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission commissioned Professor Janet McLean KC to write a Study Paper concerning Aotearoa New Zealand’s legal and institutional framework for pandemics and other threats. Building on the Commission’s Final...
Project status: Closed
Start date 18 December 2019
Last updated 27 June 2022
The Law Commission will review the law of succession. The law of succession is the system of rules that governs who gets a person’s property when they die.
In July 2019 the Minister Responsible for the Law Commission requested that the...
Project status: Closed
Start date 01 July 2019
Last updated 27 March 2023
A class action is a court proceeding in which a group with similar interests collectively sues one or more defendants. The court proceeding is brought by a representative plaintiff on behalf of the class. We do not currently have class actions in...
Project status: Closed
Start date 27 February 2018
Last updated 30 August 2019
On 27 February 2018 the Minister of Justice wrote to the Law Commission noting the Government was considering how best to ensure New Zealand’s abortion laws are consistent with treating abortion as a health issue.
The Minister asked the...
Project status: Closed
Start date 20 February 2017
Last updated 03 September 2019
For nearly 30 years the Law Commission has been engaged in reforming the law of evidence in New Zealand.
In August 1989 the Minister of Justice asked the Commission to review all evidence law to make it as clear, simple and accessible as...
Project status: Closed
Start date 27 July 2016
Last updated 25 May 2021
The forensic analysis of DNA is a powerful tool in solving crime. However, the use of DNA in criminal investigations also raises important legal and ethical issues.
In New Zealand the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Act 1995...
Project status: Closed
Start date 28 June 2016
Last updated 08 March 2023
The Law Commission and the Ministry of Justice conducted a review of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012, as is required by section 357 of that Act. The review was referred to us by the then Minister of Justice on 28 June 2016 and we jointly...